Graphic Novels > A Graphic Novels

Advantages: great drawing, original writing
Disadvantages: see critisms in text

...collecting issues from the ongoing Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book series and the best one so far. This is the first time the series had attempted any sort of story ark, with mixed results. One the one hand it allows for a more compelling plot then the one monster per issue fromat they'd used up to now, but on the other the Selke storyline is left unresolved which is frustrating for readers who have to wait for the next collection. The artwork ...
...the humour and action of Buffy exceptionally well they'd so far left out the emotional element which makes the tv show so gripping. This can be found in Joyce's concerns about ageing in this book which are mirrored by Buffy's worries about getting old (although for different reasons). The modelling story examines on of the series recurring themes - can Buffy lead a normal life despite being the Slayer? and does so without just retreading old ground. ... Read review

Advantages: Original idea! Two brilliant characters
Disadvantages: Plot is a bit weak.

...forward to mankind. Enter the Batman to save the day, picks up the dimension belt and find himself in Megacity One. Not the best of places to be with 98% unemployment, the world ravished by Nuclear War and the only life in ridiculously large cities scattered across the world. Who policies these cites well the Judges of course, with Judge Dredd the most famous of them all. Now Batman lands smack next to another of Dredd’s archenemies, the ...
...long story a bit shorter, Batman & Dredd meet, throw in Judge Anderson (a Psi Judge –she can read minds, there are also Pre-Cognitive Judges and Empathic Judge’s a wonderful parody on today’s social workers and do-gooders!) They all travel back to Gotham capture Judge Death and The Scarecrow for kicks and live happily ever after. I read 2000 AD and Judge Dredd for many years until I got bored with no new characters, dwindling pages ... Read review

Advantages: Great story, beautiful artwork
Disadvantages: none

The writers of Batman have recently made some big changes to the setting of the comic, introducing many new characters and changing the landscape of Gotham City forever with the events of Cataclysm. “Batman: Cataclysm” saw Gotham nearly flattened by a devastating earthquake that killed thousands, destroyed virtually all buildings, and left Gotham a dangerous wasteland. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the US government, upon the realisation ...
...to cope with the distaster, announced that Gotham was no longer US soil, cut off all routes to the surrounding area and declared Gotham a No Mans Land. This is where the No Mans Land series, which contains five graphic novels, begins. The first book contains two stories. The first, ‘No Law and a New Order’, begins at the beginning, mere weeks into No Mans Land. Virtually the entire population have deserted the city, but those who were ... Read review

Advantages: Constantine, and the underwater vampires
Disadvantages: Appearence (only a slight minus)

Swamp Thing is a large green swamp elemental. He was created when the scientist Alec Holland died and his consciousness was absorbed by the swamp. So Swamp Thing has Hollands memories but is not actualy Holland. In this set of stories Swamp Thing is still relatively young. He is supported by his girlfriend, Abbey and the stories are as much about what he finds out about himself as about the dangers he prevents or the people he saves. The first ...
...waste. This waste posion Swamp Thing and he dies after releasing his consciousness into the Green. What then happens is that Swamp Thing finds he can regrow his body from scratch, his physical form is not essential to his survival. This is a major find and despite the fact that it takes him months to regrow it opens up new opportunities. Nuke-face wanders off after various other complications, including his contamination off a pregnant women. The ... Read review

Advantages: Graphic novel format, makes it feel authentic while not being romanticised account of the Holocaust
Disadvantages: Almost unbearably moving, does not make you feel good about being a human being...

...it 10 stars, I would. Maus 2 : And Here My Troubles Began is the sequel to Maus 1: A Survivor's Tale My Father bleeds History, the verysuccessful graphic novel on the Holocaust, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The author who is also a main character in the story, Art Spiegelman (referred to as Artie) interviews his father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz, about his past. Part 1 traces the father's life and loves from the mid- 1930s to the ...
...In that, Part 2 of Maus is far more self-reflexive than Part 1and as much of the action takes place in the 80s as in the 40's and there are many flashbacks and flash-forwards between the time when the artist is producing Maus and that of the Second World War. The relationship between father and son is far from being an easy one. This is clearly because of the weight of the war which the son cannot fully grasp. As Artie is sitting in a car with his ... Read review